


let your colours bleed and blend with mine

by Rhovanel



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Romantic Gestures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-02 02:38:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11500023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhovanel/pseuds/Rhovanel
Summary: Someday, she'll have roses.





	let your colours bleed and blend with mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bloomingcnidarians](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloomingcnidarians/gifts).



“Where are we going?” Cora struggles vainly to free her arm from Ryder’s as they walk along the corridor.

“I told you, it’s a surprise.”

“And I told you, I don’t like surprises. The last time we were on this planet we got enough surprises to last a lifetime.” They were in the small collection of buildings that formed the new outpost on Habitat 7 - or Ryder-1, Cora corrected herself. She hasn’t been back to this planet since their first eventful trip, and she doesn’t know why they’re here now. It’s not a place she’d choose for a casual visit. Too many bad memories for the both of them.

“You’ll like this one.”

“If I don’t -”

“You will.” She can feel Ryder’s enthusiasm radiating off her like a fever.

“If I don’t,” she repeats, “I will fill your cabin with adhi.”

Ryder stops abruptly, turning to face her with a look of mock outrage on her face. “You wouldn’t,” she gasps, hand to her chest.

“Try me,” Cora smirks.

Ryder just rolls her eyes, grabs hold of her arm again, and continues to propel her down the corridor. “Don’t be so suspicious. Besides, it’s basically your cabin now too, isn’t it?”

Cora can hear a question in Ryder’s voice. This… _thing_ between them still feels so new and delicate, almost too fragile to name. They’re both a bit nervous to give it a voice outside of their intimate spaces and quiet moments.

“Okay, I suppose I didn’t think that one through,” she says, and Ryder shoots her a look of affection and gratitude.

“Right, we’re here.” Ryder opens a door to reveal a small greenhouse. She leads her over to a corner and stops, suddenly shy. Cora turns her attention to the garden bed.

It’s a single rose.

She’s seen them in vids, and in her daydreams, but she’s never seen one in the flesh. She captivated by the gentle whorls of its petals, so impossibly perfect. She reaches out a hand, then stops, unsure.

“It’s okay, you can touch it,” Ryder says behind her. 

Her fingers brush the petals slowly. It feels velvety and soft, but surprisingly strong.

She turns back to Ryder, a look of wonder on her face. “Where…where did you get this?”

Ryder is practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I grew it. I mean, Vorn did all the work, really, but I helped collect the samples we needed. We-”

Cora holds up her hands to stop Ryder’s onslaught of words. “Wait a minute…you outsourced your great romantic gesture to a _krogan_?”

“No!” Ryder exclaims. “Well, yes, but that’s not the point.”

Cora raises her eyebrows. 

“I…” Ryder reaches towards her, and takes both her hands in hers. “Maybe someday you’ll have roses, you said. I want you to have them now.”

Ryder turns her gently so she’s facing the flower. “We collected some of the hardiest species from the surface of Habitat 7,” she explains. “Vorn spliced their DNA with the rose samples that were in the seed bank.”

Cora is unable to take her eyes off the rose.

“It’s sturdy and should be able to withstand the storm activity on the planet. And it’s got _Rhizobium_ in its roots, which means it’ll draw nitrogen out of the atmosphere and help make it breathable.”

“Beautiful _and_ practical,” Cora nods. “I’m impressed.”

“Well, I had an excellent model,” Ryder says. At Cora’s confused look, she reaches out to pluck a label from the base of the plant.

“ _Rosa prosperina_ ,” Cora reads aloud. She looks at Ryder blankly.

“Yeah, I didn’t get it either,” Ryder smiles. “Suvi helped me name it.”

“Is there anyone who isn’t involved in this?” Cora isn’t sure whether she’s pleased or deathly embarrassed.

“When we get back to the Tempest, Gil is going to read us the matching sonnet.” She laughs at the horrified look on Cora’s face. “No, just Suvi and Vorn. And maybe Kesh, I guess. Oh, and I suppose Kallo too, if Suvi knows.” She runs her hands through her hair. “Just read the other side.”

Cora turns the label to read the reverse side. _Prosperina: latin form of Persephone, the Greek goddess of vegetation and flowers. Also known as-_

“Cora,” Ryder says quietly. “I named it after you.”

She steps behind her and wraps her hands around Cora’s waist. She’s slightly shorter than Cora, so she leans her forehead against her shoulder.

“It’s in the greenhouse for now,” Ryder says quietly. “But it doesn’t belong here. It’s meant to be out under the stars and the sun and the wind and the rain.”

Cora reaches out a hand to touch the leaves that fan out around the flower. They’re not the small oval leaves she remembers from the vids - they’re wide and flat, like the trees on Habitat 7. The rose is a deep burgundy colour, and the leaves are dark turquoise. It’s a strange galactic hybrid, but somehow it looks like it’s always existed. As though it just needed someone to discover it.

Cora takes a deep breath, and places her own hands on top of Ryder’s. “Such a romantic,” she says softly.

Ryder stretches up to place a kiss underneath her ear. “I didn’t get where I am today without you, Cora. And now my planet won’t either.”

“ _Rosa prosperina_ and Ryder-1,” Cora murmurs. 

“It’s a good beginning, right?”

Cora turns to stroke Ryder’s cheek. “It’s not bad,” she says slyly.

Ryder looks affronted. “Not bad?”

“Well, my rose _is_ doing all the hard work to fix your planet.”

Ryder shakes her head. “Just like the two of us, right?”

She opens her mouth to say something else but Cora stops her with a kiss. Pulling back, she cups Ryder’s face in her hands. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Ryder smiles. “So no adhi in my cabin, then?”

“No adhi,” Cora chuckles. “Ryder, I…thank you. Really. It’s perfect.”

Ryder takes her hand. “Let’s go outside,” she says.

The conditions on Habitat 7 are still inhospitable, so they suit up and exit the building. They stand together looking out over the storm clouds and the valleys. The planet is a mess, the cluster is still in chaos, and the future is full of uncertainty. But hand in hand with Ryder, looking out at a world that will bear their names for generations, Cora can’t help but feel that everything is finally, finally, exactly where it should be. And so is she.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt by [bloomingcnidarians](http://archiveofourown.org/users/bloomingcnidarians/pseuds/bloomingcnidarians), who asked for Cora feeling like she finally belongs, something that is also dear to my heart. 
> 
> The botany in this fic is based in fact but has been rather loosely and liberally applied.
> 
> The title comes from the song 'Crystals' by Of Monsters and Men.


End file.
